Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook’s lawyer said that she “did not ever commit mortgage fraud,” in a court filing on Tuesday.
Abbe Lowell, Cook’s lawyer, filed a lawsuit to block Trump from firing her from the nation’s central bank.
Trump fired Cook on August 25 for alleged mortgage fraud. Lowell, in his lawsuit, argued that federal agencies received mortgage details before the Senate first confirmed her to the Fed in May 2022. The same information was also provided to the White House before her appointment by then-President Joe Biden.
“The Government has long known about the alleged facial inconsistencies in Governor Cook’s financial documents,” Lowell claimed.
The lawsuit states:
Setting aside the fact that Governor Cook did not ever commit mortgage fraud, any such pre-office offense plainly would not have been “so infamous a nature, as to render the offender unfit to execute any public franchise.”
…
Governor Cook’s alleged “contradictions” were included in documents disclosed to the White House before she was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. During her Senate confirmation process, Governor Cook submitted questionnaires and provided reports that would have revealed the same purported “facial” contradictions the Government now claims are “cause” to fire her.
“If those are facial contradictions, as the Government and President claim, they certainly existed in the materials that Governor Cook provided as part of her Presidential vetting and Senate Confirmation process,” he continued.
Lowell said that senators or White House officials “could have inquired of her about any alleged ‘facial inconsistencies’” at the time but did not.
A source familiar with Cook’s confirmation process told Breitbart News the Senate Banking Committee at the time never received information that would have shown if she double dipped on residential mortgage preferences. The source said the information only showed that she had received rental income from her second and third properties and the Committee would have no way of knowing if she received those mortgage rates by claiming to live in those properties.
Lowell said the removal of Cook is “mere pretext” as part of President Donald Trump’s move to lower interest rates.
“The public record is replete with [Trump’s] comments demanding that the Board, including Governor Cook and its other members, lower interest rates or face consequences in 2025,” Lowell contended.
Former Obama and Biden economic staffers signed onto a letter featuring roughly 600 economists backing Cook’s efforts to stay on the board of the Fed.
Meanwhile, Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), shared a video he said is “proof” of Cook’s alleged mortgage fraud:
We have just received video proof that Lisa Cook’s declared “PRIMARY RESIDENCE” is being RENTED out to tenants. Cook RECENTLY CLAIMED to the U.S. Government that it was her PERSONAL RESIDENCE, but she’s renting it out?
“If you’re going to be in charge of the Federal Reserve, damn you better sure know how to fill out a mortgage application,” Pulte said.
Read the full article here